this post was submitted on 24 May 2024
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PC optimizers are not a new concept, and they have been around for quite a while. Nowadays, many consider them unnecessary, but having an official program made by Microsoft that is capable of (allegedly) speeding up your PC may sound quite appealing.

However, Microsoft's PC Manager has already raised quite a few eyebrows when customers caught it recommending some questionable optimizing techniques, injecting affiliate links, and shamelessly claiming your PC needs repair if Bing is not set as the default search engine. Yikes.

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[–] henfredemars 43 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Cool idea MS. If only you had access to the OS itself to prevent it from gradually slowing down and littering the system with junk. Since we can't fix Windows (Only the maker of Windows can do that!), let's make a dedicated band-aid app to fix Windows.

Maybe whoever is working on Windows will get the message and fix those problems that your tool was built to fix.

Funny thing that my Android phone and Linux desktop don't need antivirus, don't accumulate junk in registries or system folders, and don't require dedicated optimization tools.

[–] mynachmadarch@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Although I agree in general, the antivirus complaint isn't really fair. Windows was by and large the largest install base, especially in the corporate sector. It only makes sense it became the most targeted. Scam apps and that's do exist on Android and Linux, they're just mitigated other ways. For now.

[–] henfredemars 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I see it more as a distribution problem. It’s unrealistic to expect users to download software and verify that the sources are trustworthy. Having some kind of store with developer accountability goes a long way to preventing malware. That, and sandboxing.

It’s always possible to write malware for any platform. It’s not entirely a fair comparison.

[–] shasta@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Windows has a store. Most people just choose not to use it.

[–] henfredemars 1 points 1 year ago

Microsoft tries to offer one, but there’s not a lot of incentive for developers to use it.

[–] autonomoususer@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

'Antivirus' is a cope. Anti-libre software bans us from removing malicous source code.

[–] mynachmadarch@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, because nobody ever slips problematic code into free software that isn't caught right away. Sure buddy.

I'll stick with that extra layer that helps catch things I might miss no matter where the software came from thanks (no I didn't think everyone needs norton or McAfee or the likes, just something).

That's also ignoring all the people who just don't know enough about computers to catch as much. Not even talking old grannies or lazy people, just the average person who only has so much time to devote to keeping their system secure.

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